Western Oregon University
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History of the Book: Disrupting Society from
Tablet to Tablet
Student Scholarship
6-2015
Chapter 08 - Mechanization of the Printing Press
Robin Roemer
Western Oregon University, rroemer11@wou.edu
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8
Mechanization of the Printing Press
- Robin Roemer One of the important leaps in the technology of copying text was the
mechanization of printing. The speed and efficiency of printing was greatly
improved through mechanization. This took several forms including: replacing
wooden parts with metal ones, cylindrical printing, and stereotyping. The
innovations of printing during the 19th century affected the way images were
reproduced for illustrations as well as for type. These innovations were so
influential on society because they greatly increased the ability to produce large
quantities of work quickly. This was very significant for printers of newspapers,
who were limited by the amount their press could produce in a short amount of
time.
Iron Printing Press
One major step in improving the
printing press was changing the parts
from wood to metal. Although many
other inventors were part of innovations
which led up to the metal printing press,
Charles 3rd Earl of Stanhope was the first
to succeed in creating a machine made
of metal in 17981. This reconfigured
technology greatly improved upon the
wooden printing press in many ways.
The quality of the type increased
because the metal press printed more
evenly.
Stanhope Press from Fontaine de Vaucluse, France1
The metal press could also print
twice as much in one print compared to a wooden press since the metal created
Mechanization of the Printing Press - 83
a clearer mark even with a larger plate. This doubling of efficiency greatly
influenced the production of the printing press which led to faster output and
more pages printed at one time. The metal also lasted longer than wooden
presses1. Less wear was an advantage for printers because they would have to
replace the parts less often. Although this was a great improvement; it still
resembled the wooden press more closely than other innovations in printing to
come.
Other adaptations of the metal printing press increased the efficiency of
the design. The Columbian press created by George Clymer used levers in the
pressing mechanism instead of turning a screw, which decreased the work and
increased efficiency1. Later, a new device was added to improve the inking
process. Samuel Rust created a method of applying ink with automated rollers
in the metal press in 18271. The metal printing press was further improved upon
by Isaac Adams who used an automated machine, although he was not the first
to do so. With the use of steam power, he automated the mechanism for
applying ink, and the movement of paper in the press. The ink was applied with
rollers and the paper was drawn to the platform of the press, then lifted up to
the typeface2. Many others adopted and added to this technology. The most
well-known of these was R. Hoe and Company of the United States, which was
“the leading manufacturer of large presses in the second half of the [19th]
century1.” As the technology changed and was distributed, the dispersal of
printed material also increased. While the metal press was constantly being
changed, another type of press which looked radically different was created.
Steam Powered Cylinder Press
The steam powered cylinder press further improved the efficiency of
printing. This type of printing press was created by the German engineer
Frederich Koenig in several stages1. His first innovation was to take a flat press
and power it through steam technology1. Although he gave up this idea, he
continued to work with steam technology. Koenig combined the concepts of a
cylinder press and printing in other fields such fabric patterns and illustration
84 - Disrupting Society from Tablet to Tablet
with the addition of steam power1. The first versions of this press had the
printing block on a flat surface while the cylinder moved the paper1. This
changed with the advent of stereotyping, which allowed the type to be on the
cylinders themselves. Another result of using the cylinder to print was that a
page could be printed on both sides at the same time as in Koenig's later
design1. As with the flat printing press, others improved upon Koenig's design.
David Napier used the design in America in 1825. Later it was used by Richard
Hoe, who also used double-sided printing1.
Koenig's 1814 Steam-powered Printing Press3
Adopted early by newspapers, this press allowed them to greatly
increase their production and therefore their readership. One of the most famous
examples of this is the Times. On November 29, 1914 the London Times issued
its first edition printed on the cylinder steam powered press1. They needed to
print their works quickly and the automated cylinder press helped them to
achieve this goal. One source pointed out that newspaper subscription was
limited by the production capabilities of the printing press1. When printing
technology improved, newspapers were able to increase their circulation to a
Mechanization of the Printing Press - 85
larger audience. In fact, “six years after steam-power printing was introduced,
the Times had doubled its circulation1.” The wide production of newspapers,
which was possible because of the rotary press, became a significant part of the
culture during this time. In the middle of the 19th century, Sir Edward Bulwer
Lytton suggested in a speech that the Times rather than other aspects of society
could be a good “memorial of existing British civilization1.” The significant
innovation of the cylinder steam powered printing press would not have been
nearly so important without the innovation of the stereotyped plates. Machines
which tried to have type on a rounded surface without the metal plates, such as
the rotary press, were not nearly as successful.
Cylinder Printing Press2
86 - Disrupting Society from Tablet to Tablet
Stereotype plate4
Stereotyping
The process of stereotyping improved efficiency by creating a metal
plate for each complete page instead of resetting the type1. This allowed for less
difficulty in reprinting classic books because the old stereotypes could be
reused instead of setting the type each time. The original type was placed into a
soft cast, removed, and then the cast was dried or hardened1. Then the cast was
put in a tray and molten metal was poured over it to create a plate of type. This
process took many years to become popular. It was invented by Johann Zeiger
in 1696, who used an imprint in paper pulp, dried, it and used it to cast a metal
plate. Despite its early existence, it was not readily applied until it was
rediscovered hundreds of years later. In 1829, Claude Genoux patented his
stereotyping process which also used paper pulp. Later, plaster of Paris, a
substance which holds an imprinted shape when hardened, was used as a mold.
Mechanization of the Printing Press - 87
After a time, electrotyping was invented as a different form of casting type into
plates. In this process the plate was created with a softer substance, such as
graphite. This material was put into an impression to attract the metal and
create the plate1.
Stereotyping was useful for the cylinder press because the metal plates
could be bent around each cylinder, greatly speeding up the printing process. In
combination with the new types of printing machines, stereotyping allowed for
massive quantities of printing. Unlike other printing processes, which used
individual letters of type, plates could be reused for reprinting without resetting
the whole page1.
Unsurprisingly, stereotyping was protested by many people working in
the printing industry, especially typesetters. William Ged, a researcher studying
the stereotyping process at the University of Cambridge, had to give up his
work when the people he was working with halted his work by tricking him.
The people who molded letters gave him bad copies, while the people who set
up the type and the printers also tried to sabotage his work because they thought
it would take their jobs1. This is a common aspect of disruptive technology,
which often causes disapproval by some of the people working in the industry
where it is introduced. Whenever there is a strong movement to a new
technology, there are people that long for the previous form. Even today, we
sometimes talk about the sentiment attached to getting a hand-written letter
rather than an e-mail.
Illustrations
The illustrations that went with the type also changed during this time.
Three processes were commonly used to produce illustrations: wood engraving,
copper plates, and lithography. Wood engraving was created by carving out the
wood from the picture to be printed. The white space would be carved away to
leave the design3. Blocks of wood used for printing were limited to five inches
in size, so pictures larger than that had to be printed with multiple blocks
88 - Disrupting Society from Tablet to Tablet
fastened together4. Copper plates gave sharper clear pictures than wood. For
multicolor prints each color would be printed separately.
Lithography used stone and pencil to create an area where the surface
would not be printed on because of water dispelling the oil-based ink. This
process was created by Alois Senefelder5. The stone was carved with acid so it
could hold water to dispel ink. The ink would cling to the areas of the block
with graphite on them5. This process required less carving and thus less work to
create the plate. Lithography became popular in America starting in 1828, and
color lithography was invented in 18375. The use of lithography spread wildly
in the U.S. after its introduction. Printed images were important in books, but
they were also widely used for business transactions, advertisements, and
magazines. The new use of illustrations helped to greatly increase magazine
subscription as well as the number of magazine titles5. Stereotyping and
electrotyping were used for illustrations as well as type, and they were created
through the same method3.
Lithograph of Map with Lithography Stone5
Mechanization of the Printing Press - 89
From the Press to the People
The new technologies of printing created during the 19th century
allowed for more efficiency, leading to a wider distribution of materials,
including books and newspapers. Although mechanization greatly increased the
abilities of printers to produce many more copies of works and, in turn,
increased distribution, it was not the only factor in the increase in literacy and
the spread of printed works. Other factors such as publishing companies and
lending libraries also had great effect on the growth of the book in 19th century
society.
90 - Disrupting Society from Tablet to Tablet
References
1.
Louis Dudek, Literature and the Press: A History of Printing, Printed
Media, and Their Relation to Literature (1960).
2.
Robert Hoe, A Short History of the Printing Press and of the
Improvements in Printing Machinery from the Time of Gutenburg up to
the Present Day (1902).
3.
“Dime Novels and Penny Dreadfuls: Guided Tour of Print Processes
Black and White Reproduction,” Stanford University. Web (n.d.)
4.
Philip V. Allingham, "The Technologies of Nineteenth-Century
llustration," The Victorian Web. Web (2014)
5.
Ellen Mazur Thompson, The Origins of Graphic Design in America: 18701920 (1997).
Images
1.
Véronique Pagnier, Stanhope Press from Fontaine de Vaucluse, France,
Creative Commons Share Alike (2011).
2.
A.H. Jocelyn, Cylinder Printing Press, Public Domain (1864).
3.
Koenig's 1814 Steam-Powered Printing Press. Public Domain. (n.d.)
4.
Krd. Stereotype plate. Creative Commons Share Alike. (2014).
5.
Chris, Lithograph of Map with Lithography Stone, Creative Commons
Share Alike (2006).
Mechanization of the Printing Press - 91
Disrupting Society From Tablet to Tablet
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